About half of lesbians want to look like men, any sort of manly look will do. The easiest route to that goal is to become an old fat man. A lot easier than becoming a ripped well-dressed guy. Some other dykes want to look like their partner’s mom, so they become real fat and gross. Federal funding isn’t needed to figure this out.
Bingo. It's the need for for one of the partners to look and play the part of a man. Maybe it makes them feel less weird to approximate the look of a normal couple.